Night of Kuro
by TheLaziestManAlive
Summary: Ori has just returned home from a festival honoring the late Kuro. But when the honored avian coincidentally returns after her child seemingly disappears, things take a turn for the worse - and the dreamlike. Can Ori escape Kuro's clutches and find his family, or will he finally be lost to the darkness?
1. Ku's Takeoff

Ori, Gumo, and Ku were heading home from the Night of Kuro. The festival honored Kuro, the darkened owl who sacrificed herself to save the forest of Nibel. When they returned home, they found Naru sitting against the house's outer walls, eating some fruits she had gathered. Gumo greeted her, and she waved back. Ori put on a mask he created of Kuro and made an impression of her. He bent his knees slightly and put his arms out, imitating his deceased foe. The imitation gained Naru's impression and she smiled upon him. They then went inside. Naru lifted Ori onto his bed and slouched on the floor.

Before driving off to sleep, Ori looked upon his mask one more. As he did so, a light purple mist seeped from the mask's eyes and floated around him, as if to coat him. Ori felt its warmth surround him like the relieving heat of the sun after a long day spent in the cold. Ori closed his eyes as this blanket of an aura covered him, yearning to embrace it for the rest of the night.

Later, Ori heard tapping, the source of which seemed to be Ku's talons. Ori sat up in his bed to check on him and found him walking outside. Ori hopped from his bed and followed him. When he went outside the cave, however, Ku seemed to have disappeared.

Ori noticed that, while he was still outside, his body still felt comfortable, as if this were a dream - perhaps it was. Nevertheless, his priority was to find Ku.

Ori peered left and right but he was nowhere in sight. Where was he? Ori suddenly heard a chirp and looked above him. On a tree branch, he saw Ku. Worried, Ori reached his hand towards him, as if to warn him. Just then, he leapt off of the branch and swooped up into the air. He was flying! Ori stood in awe. Watching Ku's ups, downs, and turns left him fascinated.

But then, Ku dove behind a tree, and he was gone. Ori rushed towards the tree to look for him, but he seemingly vanished. Then, in the corner of his eye, Ori saw a bird heading towards the Spirit Tree. On the conclusion that it was Ku, he followed him there. But, while running to the Spirit Tree, he noticed something was slightly off about Ku. He seemed larger and further away.

When Ori approached the Spirit Tree, a dark purple owl stood upon the tree. Then, she turned around to reveal a dark purple face. When she opened her eyes, Ori saw only a luminous white. It was Kuro! Ori's heart skipped a beat, he breathed heavily. He backed away from her, only to lose his footing and fall on his back. Kuro spread her wings, preparing to attack him. Almost immediately, Ori got back up and sprinted towards his home. Whilst attempting to escape Kuro, Ori's mind was overrun with questions. Where did Ku go? How did Kuro get here? What does she want from him?

Finally, as if by a miracle, Ori had reached his home. He looked to his right to see Kuro about to reach him. He ran inside immediately but was shocked by what he saw, or in this case, what he _didn't _see. Naru and Gumo were gone. He called for them, but no response was given.

Ori turned to the entrance and was greeted with one of Kuro's white, soulless eyes gazing at him. Kuro lifted her head from the cave opening and violently inserted her talons inside in an attempt to grasp him. Ori rushed to the back of the house, where Kuro could not grab him. Eventually, Kuro gave up and flew away.

Ori took some time to catch his breath. Where were Naru, Gumo, and Ku? Considering their caring nature, they could be outside looking for him. Ori decided that the outdoors would be a good place to start. Of course, he would have to watch out for Kuro, just in case she was still lurking around. He stood up and headed outside. To his surprise, outside was a much different location.


	2. In the Misty Woods Once More

Ori had found himself in the Misty Woods. He searched for any resemblance to his home, but to no avail. All that remained was the cave he had left. Resemblance or none, his goal remained the same - to find his family and leave the Misty Woods.

Remembering to keep out of Kuro's line of sight, Ori hid within the forest. He trekked through the trees, which were surrounded by fog. And thus began the search for his family. He looked high above the trees and deep in the caves. He searched every nook and cranny, but they were nowhere to be found. A while later, Ori had tired, and he rested against one of the dead, leafless trees.

"Ori!" he heard. He turned his head but saw nobody. Then, he heard that voice again. "Ori, Ori!" This time, he stood and looked around to see no one, yet again. He decided to follow this voice; maybe it was someone in his family calling out for him.

Eventually, he found the source of the voice calling him. It was Sein, who floated before him.

"Ori! There you are. We must find your family and make haste, for no longer can they wait!" Ori asked Sein how he knew about the former's situation. "Now is not the time for that! Kuro longs to take your life for herself. We must not be careless."

Just then, a sharp and pitched cry filled in the air as it did Ori's ears. He and Sein hid behind one of the trees, and Ori attempted to regulate his breathing. His makeshift peace was interrupted by the sound of large talons slamming the ground. As another of Kuro's cries erupted, Ori shut his eyes and clung his chest, his heart beating rapidly and his hands quivering. An indescribable feeling filled his stomach as he strongly feared the end.

Kuro finally took off, piercing the darkened heavens once more. Ori witnessed her leave and let out a sigh of relief.

He then heard some chirping accompanied by humming from two voices-one was light and modulated, while the other was rich and deep. looked where Kuro stood and saw a pathway-one that had not been there before. On that pathway, he saw Ku, Naru, and Gumo at the far end of this road, which seemed to go downward.

"Ori," spoke Sein. "your family heads towards this newly formed pathway. You must make clear your presence to them." Taking Sein's advice to face value, Ori followed them down the game road.

Reaching the end of the road, they came across a chasm, the inside of which seemed like the inside of a tree covered in sharp, piercing thorns. On the bottom, they saw Ori's family, who had somehow made it to the bottom without injury. The rest of Ori's family then wandered off elsewhere.

Upon seeing this Sein asked, "How have they reached the bottom unscathed, and without the abilities that you possess?" Ori shrugged his shoulders in response. He took a deep breath and prepared to plunge into the chasm.

With a hop, down went Ori into the thorn-covered pit, but he realized too late that he had nothing to slow down the fall. Ori panicked as he fell to his seemingly inevitable doom. As if everything else that was going on wasn't strange enough, a fraction of the ground below him formed into a lake; it was no pool of water, but it was big enough for him to fall into and survive.

Ori and Sein embraced the newly-formed lake and reached the surface just as quickly. Ori shook the liquid off of him when he and Sein reached a dirt-covered shore.

"The strangeness of these woods knows no bounds," commented Sein on the lake that had formed below them. "What enabled Ku, Naru, and Gumo to bypass that pit unharmed? They had no means of reduction of damage from the fall." This same process repeated throughout the search; the sets of thorns, the interactive flowers, the lightbulb-like objects off which Ori could bash; Ori's family had made it through all these, while seemingly doing none of the actions Ori and Sein had to.

It began to rain by the time they bypassed the aforementioned segments of the woods. When Ori climbed yet another wall, he discovered his now puddle-surrounded home, in the same place it was, and with the same emptiness it had when he left it. Ori's heart sank, as did he to his knees, and tears from his eyes.

"It seems," Sein comfortingly told Ori, "we have traveled in a circle. But if we search once more, I believe we can reunite you with your family."

Ori clenched his fist before standing up and sharply turning towards Sein with an angry expression as if to deny his suggestion. They are not here-they are nowhere, nowhere to be found. The sorrow in his heart turned to malice, his disappointment to rage.

Ori went to gather some stones, his anger lasting the whole process. When he finished gathering the stones, he picked one up and violently threw it into the cave. One by one, stones flew to the inside.

"Ori, " Sein reacted, "I don't think this is a good way to rid yourself of anger!" Ori once again looked towards Sein with a hostile face. His heartbreak was clear through his tears, which he cared not to wipe from his eyes and face.

Ori resumed his hostile way of dealing with his anger until a large, dark purple figure emerged from the house. She raised her hands in front of her, signaling Ori to stop what he was doing.

Ori would have thrown another stone but stopped once he saw Naru outside. Gumo and Ku appeared behind her. Tears continued to fall from Ori's eyes, but they rest above a smile. Ori dropped the stone in his hand as his anger was turned to joy.


End file.
